"Liberate the villages and other places that have been occupied as soon as possible and with a permanent result. The hope of these people must not be allowed to die!"

The Chaldean Patriarch, Louis Raphael I Sako, has issued the following statement concerning the visit of Pope Francis’ Personal Envoy to Iraq, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, and calling on international organizations to intervene.

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The Special Envoy of the Holy Father in Iraq, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, accompanied by Patriarch Sako, by the Apostolic Nuncio, and the local Bishops, met with the political authorities of the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan and visited the Christian refugees as well as the Yezidi and others in the provinces of Duhoq and Erbil.

They heard about and saw for themselves the tragedy and suffering of so many families that have left their villages, their homes and property, above all in Mosul, on the plain of Nineveh, and in Sinjar. What they heard and saw has compelled them to join in a new appeal from the Patriarch in asking the International Community, and in particular to countries and international organizations that take their moral responsibilities seriously:

2. To liberate the villages and other places that have been occupied as soon as possible and with a permanent result. The hope of these people must not be allowed to die!

3. To assure that there is international protection for these villages and so to encourage these families to go back to their homes and to continue to live a normal life in security and peace. Many times did the people cry out to us: help us to return to just living our lives!